Human Creativity in a Digital World

The world of online, digital information that is being developed today has its roots in the work done by a pioneering group of people and companies working with cd-rom technology in the early 90s.

This book is about their exploits. More than just a historical document, it discusses fundamental issues that were important then and are vital now in today’s growing digital economy. It looks at the ways that creative people need to work, how the groundbreaking inspirations of the pioneers came into conflict with the grey, shovel-ware that was produced when the big players muscled into the digital information scene.

Large software projects have a higher risk of failure than assaults on the worlds ten highest peaks, so it is important to consider what makes a digital project successful and what causes a digital project to fail.

From Apple’s ‘Knowledge Navigator’ to Microsoft’s ‘Project Sendak’ this book takes the projects apart and, along the way, it discusses such topics as; cognitive train wrecks, sensory dynamite, pointless playthings, the grand unified theory of interaction and multi-mediocracy. A large part of the text comes from primary sources. The author has worked in many of the areas he discusses and he has talked at great length to others who have worked there. As such this is a valuable resource in the fight to do the right stuff in the world of digital media.

"This is a book that raises questions about basic,crucial concepts that matter everywhere in life – not just on screen... If you have even the slightest interest in creating content on computers you'll find it impossible to put down."
Amazon UK's reviewer, Penny Jannifer

"There are many books explaining why software projects go sour; this one breaks the mould by showing how they come good."
Malcolm Cook (Human Factors, Abertay Dundee)

"It was incredibly engrossing. I expected to skim through it, and found myself reading it avidly, putting aside all the other work I should have been doing, in favor of consuming it. .... It rang so true about so many things about the process of creating the virtual world we spend so much time in that I'm dying to share it with others who also create for it, or want to."
Aleen Stein (co-founder of the Voyager Company)